


Earthbound No More

by Featherfire



Category: My Little Pony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-16
Updated: 2011-05-16
Packaged: 2017-10-19 11:40:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/200442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Featherfire/pseuds/Featherfire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The newest arrival to Hurricane Castle brings healing to the herd's Flutters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Earthbound No More

**Author's Note:**

> Luminous Flux is a custom flutter pony. In physics, luminous flux is the measure of the perceived power of light.
> 
> Some of the names of the ponies of Hurricane Castle have been changed... mostly the babies... because the names Hasbro gave them were terribly uninspired. Here's a partial list:
> 
> Moondreamer - Baby Moondancer  
> Comet - Baby Glory  
> Sparks - Baby Firefly  
> Socks - Baby Stockings  
> Bluerocket - Baby Blue Ember  
> Penelope and Calliope - Pony Bride w/Doves  
> Featherstar - custom Pony Bride  
> Appleblossom - Mommy Apple Delight  
> Applesauce - Baby Apple Delight  
> Tulip - Posey (I had two)

She arrived in the night as the rain came down in a torrent, flying wearily over the cliff that marked the northern boundary of the herd’s territory. Unable to fly longer, she collapsed unconscious on the castle’s doorstep in a heap of wings and hair, and lay there still when the Scouts went out to patrol the next morning.

"What in Ponyland is _that?"_ Glory said, after nearly stepping on the still form. The pony was ice blue, and her long, damp hair was lavender. Her wings were blue and purple with pink at the edges. Her tail had fallen over her flank, obscuring her symbol.

"I think it’s a pony, Glory," Sugarberry replied coolly.

"Well any moron can see that, but—what is she doing _here?"_

"She probably collapsed here," Whizzer said. "Remember when Applejack and I arrived? He’d collapsed in the field from exhaustion. This pony probably flew here from far away, and found her wings unable to hold her when she finally reached the castle."

"Do you think the castle was her destination?" Tossles asked.

"It may well have been," Gusty said. "We should get her to the infirmary."

"I’ll get High Flier," Tossles volunteered. She turned and went back into the castle.

"She is light enough to carry on my back, if we can’t wake her up," 4-Speed said. "She’s small—she almost looks like a flutter." His voice was a little sad; their own flutters’ delicate wings had been destroyed in the hurricane that had brought Firefly’s herd to Hurricane Castle.

"Those aren't flutter wings, though," Glory remarked. "They look like High Flier and Buzzer’s wings." The others nodded.

Just then High Flier herself appeared at the door to the castle. Under her direction, 4-Speed lifted the small, slender pony and brought her to the infirmary, where Bowtie was working that day. 4-Speed deposited her on one of the low padded benches, and then went out on patrol. In all this time, the pony had not moved.

High Flier perched on a table, out of Bowtie’s way, as she examined the unconscious pony. "I can’t find any external injuries," Bowtie said. "And I don’t see any evidence of internal ones either. I think she is just in shock. She certainly is an odd little pony, isn't she? She looks like a flutter, but she has wings rather like yours and Buzzer’s."

"Yes, she does," High Flier agreed, gazing down at the pony’s simple but odd symbol. "Well, we shall see what she says when she wakes up. Bowtie, if you would send her to my study when you think she is well rested enough?"

Bowtie bowed over one foreleg. "Of course, High Flier." High Flier nodded, then lifted her wings and flew from the room.

Bowtie busied herself with taking stock of the various tinctures and notions the ponies kept in the infirmary. She readied a bowl of strengthening sugar-water and a bowl of regular water for when the strange little pony awoke. An hour after she arrived, the little pony began to stir.

"Hello," Bowtie said when the pony opened her sapphire blue eyes. "Let me be the first to welcome you to Hurricane Castle."

"I made it, then?" she rasped. "I made it to the castle?"

"You made it, my dear."

She let her head fall onto one foreleg. "I was afraid I wouldn’t make it. I thought I’d come totally off course. I collapsed…by the time my wings stopped wanting to hold me, I could no longer see…" She broke off, sighing.

"There, there. If the castle was your destination, you found it. Here, drink this. It’s sugar water, it will bring your blood sugar back up. What’s your name?"

"Luminous Flux," the pony replied, lapping hungrily at the sugar water.

"That’s a pretty name."

"Thank you." When she finished the sugar water, she drank the cool, clear water as if she had not had fresh water for days. _For that matter,_ Bowtie thought, _she probably hasn’t._ When Luminous Flux had finished both bowls, Bowtie let her rest a little more before asking her to stand experimentally. The pony’s legs held her well, with no trembling and no weakness. "Do you feel stronger?" Bowtie asked.

"Oh, yes, much," Luminous Flux replied.

"Our leader, High Flier, would like to speak to you. Are you up to it?"

"I think so."

Bowtie nodded. "I’ll bring you to her."

=====

High Flier was at the window in her study when there was a soft tapping on her door. She turned and went to her desk, then said, "Come in."

Bowtie pushed the heavy door slowly open and entered. Behind her, walking steadily, was the pony the Scouts had found on the doorstep that morning. She looked much better now that she had dried off.

"This is High Flier, the leader of the Hurricane Castle herd," Bowtie said. "High Flier, this is Luminous Flux."

"Thank you, Bowtie."

Bowtie knew a dismissal when she heard one. She bowed over one leg and then left the room, shutting the door behind her.

"You made quite an entrance this morning," High Flier said once Bowtie had gone. "One of our Scouts nearly stepped on you."

Luminous Flux hopped onto the chair on the other side of the desk from High Flier, grinning sheepishly. "Yes, I’m sorry. I got lost when the rains came. I was so tired, flying in circles, that my wings stopped wanting to hold me up and I just passed out."

"It’s dangerous flying in wet weather. Where did you come from?"

"From over the ocean, beyond Care Bear Isle."

"That is a long way to travel."

"I know. But you see, ponies are few and far between where I come from. I wanted to find some of my own kind. My research showed that Hurricane Castle and the Citadel are the largest concentrations of ponies found anywhere near my homeland. I didn’t think I could make it over the mountains to the Citadel, so I decided to try for Hurricane Castle. But when the rain started last night, I couldn’t see, and I got lost. I should have landed and tried to find shelter—but it all turned out all right."

High Flier smiled. "Yes, it did. We will welcome you here, of course. We welcome all ponies here at the castle. But I must ask you a question—and forgive me if it seems rude." High Flier lifted one wing. "Your wings—they are very like mine and another pony here, but your body type is that of a flutter pony."

Luminous Flux sighed. "Yes," she said slowly. "I am a special case."

"Are you a hybrid of some sort?"

"No. Some time ago, a terrible disease began to strike ponies all over the world. Mostly it hit flutters, but occasionally butterfly-winged ponies like you were afflicted as well. The disease was terribly debilitating to a winged pony—among other things, it destroyed her wings."

"Ah—well, we were lucky, in a sense. Our flutters’ wings were ripped to shreds in a storm."

"The hurricane?"

High Flier nodded. "The very one that brought us to this castle."

"The disease was eventually cured," Luminous Flux went on, "but there was no antidote to replace the lost wings. Flutters all over the world are now wingless." Luminous Flux rustled her wings anxiously, as if to reassure herself that they were still there. "But there is—well, I suppose she can only be described as a fairy—who has a certain spell that will conjure wings on a given subject. She goes from city to city in search of wingless ponies and restores their wings in exchange for nothing more than food and a warm bed for the night."

"Really?"

The ice blue pony nodded gravely. "She knows she cannot possibly hope to cure all the affected ponies, so sometimes she gives the secret of her spell to one she feels she can trust. I am one of those ponies."

High Flier blinked. "Are you telling me that you can give our flutters wings again?"

Luminous Flux smiled. "Yes, I am. All I ask in return is that you let me stay here at your castle."

"Our home is yours for as long as you want to stay!" High Flier exclaimed. "As long as you don’t mind two flutter ponies _worshipping_ the ground you walk on!"

Luminous Flux laughed. "As long as there is some pony willing to take on the responsibility of keeping my head in proportion to my body, I don’t mind a little worship."

"When can you perform the spell?"

"Not for a few days. I must get my strength up again. I have journeyed far, and the spell requires much energy. Afterwards I shall also need to recuperate."

"Of course! Posey, our head cook, loves to feed weakened ponies. It’s her favorite pastime."

"She’ll have a grand old time with me, I assure you, High Flier. After I have performed the spell, I eat like a bear for a week. Two bears!"

High Flier laughed.

======

That night at dinner in the Great Hall, High Flier introduced the new arrival to the rest of the herd. After dinner, she called Rosedust and Morning Glory to her study. When they arrived, Luminous Flux retold her story of the kind fairy, and of the offer to restore the flutters’ wings.

Rosedust and Morning Glory looked at each other in disbelief. Then they stared at High Flier and Luminous Flux, mouths agape and eyes wide. "The look on their faces is reward enough," Luminous Flux giggled.

Over the next week, Luminous Flux built up her strength for the spell with lots of food and meditation. High Flier made a general announcement to the rest of the herd, and they received it with gladness and awe. She told the ponies not to disturb the little flutter as she made her preparations, and to save any questions for the week after the successful completion of the spell. "She informs me it takes a lot of energy and much of her strength," High Flier concluded.

"So _that’s_ why she’s been eating so much!" Posey said. "I wondered. Not even Applejack ate that much when he first came here!"

One day, a week after her arrival at the castle, Luminous Flux came to High Flier’s study. "I am ready," she said.

"Do you mind if the rest of the herd watches?" High Flier wanted to know. "They are _awfully_ curious. They’ve never seen magic done by anyone but unicorns."

Luminous Flux chuckled. "No, I don’t mind. But they must stay a safe distance away, or they may find themselves with pairs of butterfly wings where they don’t want them!"

"Agreed," High Flier said with a laugh.

While the rest of the herd watched from the castle doorway, Luminous Flux led the two flutters out to the middle of the meadow, where they stood side by side and looked apprehensive. "Are you scared?" Rosedust asked her sister. "A little," Morning Glory admitted.

Luminous Flux stood a little way away from them and shook back her long lavender mane. "Don’t be scared," she told them. "It won’t hurt. It will feel a little odd, perhaps, but it won’t hurt. It is natural to be afraid. I was scared too, when the fairy first performed it on me." She smiled, and then closed her eyes and tilted her head back, lifting and spreading her wings. She took a deep breath, and then began the spell. Her voice rang out across the meadow.

 _"Flutter hollow, flutter deep,  
Flicker swift and tremble sweet.  
Open skyward, cloudy soft,  
Softly, sparkle, rise aloft.  
Gift of the heavens,  
Skybound soar,  
Extend your wings, earthbound no more.  
Colors bright and muscles strong,  
Restore our flight and right this wrong!"_

Rosedust and Morning Glory gasped and staggered forward as Luminous Flux shouted the last word. There was no pain, only a heavy pressure on their shoulders and violent wrenching in their backs.

As the ponies watched, a soft light surrounded the two ponies and two spots of color appeared at their shoulders. They fell to their knees in the soft grass and their manes blew back from their heads. The ponies gaped openly as two curled up fins appeared on the flutters’ backs, and then unfurled into two sets of butterfly wings!

Rosedust and Morning Glory got to their feet again, swaying dizzily for a moment as the effects of the spell wore off. "Did it work?" Morning Glory whispered dazedly.

Luminous Flux smiled at her. "Turn around and see," she suggested. Her fatigue showed in her posture and voice, but she was also plainly overjoyed to see the results of her labor.

In unison, they twisted their heads around to gaze awestruck at their backs. "Wings!" Rosedust shouted. "We have wings!" She flexed her pink and yellow wings experimentally.

Morning Glory fluttered her own purple and green wings. "I can feel the muscles in my chest moving," she said wonderingly. "They’re real, and they’re _mine."_

"Yes, they are," Luminous Flux agreed. "Why don’t you try a bit of a flight?"

The two flutter sisters exchanged glances. Then, fluttering their new wings, they rose into the air. "They work!" Rosedust exclaimed.

Luminous Flux smiled up at them. "Of course they work," she chuckled. "Did you think they wouldn’t?"

Rosedust and Morning Glory laughed joyously. They flew up to the parapet and back down, zipping over the heads of the astonished herd, tails and manes flying. They flew up the cliff, arced in midair and dived back down, skimming close over the grass.

Swaying wearily, Luminous Flux made her way back to the herd as Rosedust and Morning Glory continued their aerial acrobatics. "I think I’m going to go to bed now," she said calmly as Penelope let the exhausted flutter lean on her shoulder.

"You’ve earned your rest," High Flier said. "We will have food and drink ready for you when you wake up. I’m sure we don’t know how to adequately thank you…"

"Seeing them so happy is thanks enough," she interrupted. "That, and the fact that I can live in this castle with so many wonderful members of my own kind—especially a little yellow pony who cooks such delicious things." She kept her eyes on High Flier as she said this, but Posey blushed.

"I’ll take you to your room," Penelope offered.

"That would be wonderful," Luminous Flux sighed. "I feel I could sleep for days."

Moving slowly, she and Penelope went back into the castle. The rest of the herd followed them after a moment. Rosedust and Morning Glory, oblivious to what was happening on the ground, continued to fly and exercise muscles that had been too-long dormant. High Flier watched them for a bit, her heart soaring with them, and then she too turned and went back into the castle.

The two flutters came back in at dusk, hungry after flying for so long. A light shone in their eyes that had not been there since the night of the hurricane. That night, Hurricane Castle slept peacefully. A dark cloud had been lifted from the ponies’—all the ponies’—hearts that day, one that they hadn't known existed until it was gone from their lives forever.


End file.
